Laura Katharine, thank you, my friend. You are one speedy gonzales with the whole beta thing.

Let see – I don't own CSI. Dammit. I'm using challenge lines from YTDAW improv challenge- first and last lines given. They are old ones, I was just too lazy to update.

Oh, and get this. My cable TV went out about 15 minutes ago. Yep. You know what night this is. A sign, maybe? I may be better off.

"Go ahead and quote someone - I know you want you to," she all but purred, nuzzling her nose in the center of his chest.

Sara began to trail wet kisses up his chest, and when she reached the underside of his chin, nipping softly, Grissom couldn't contain his moan. "What makes you say that?"

"I can see it in your face." She hovered over him and teased his mouth with her own. "And you paused."

"I paused?" Confused, he pulled his head back as far as he could to get a better look at her. However, when she laughed at him, he decided he didn't care what she meant. He just wanted her to keep laughing.

"You know, that moment right before you recite someone else's words of wisdom, you ... pause. There are also a couple of different expressions that accompany 'the pause', but those don't matter. I could have my back to you and know in that moment the next words out of your mouth would be a quote."

"I'm that predictable?" He knew he sounded dejected, but he didn't care to disguise it. He didn't want to be predictable. In his mind, predictability led to stagnancy. While he enjoyed the comforts of that kind of certainty, it didn't mean that he wanted to be predictable. Surely, that would bore her over time.

"I think it's nice to have a little predictability. To have someone know you that well; isn't that amazing?"

While she made it sound nice, Grissom still had his doubts. "'Love withers with predictability; it's essence is surprise and amazement. To make love a prisoner of the mundane is to take its passion and lose it forever,'" he said, wondering if he was able to glaze over 'the pause'.

"That's a load of crap – I knew that was coming, by the way." She playfully kissed his mouth and moved to straddle his waist.

He gasped in surprise when he took in her form, perched upon his body. Surely he would have noticed before now that she was naked. The light coming in from his bedroom window played wonderfully against her curves, casting soft shadows that he suddenly wanted to explore.

Grissom was mesmerized. He rested his forearms on the tops of her thighs and gently took hold of her hips. He wanted - needed to touch her, but for some reason he couldn't let the conversation go. "Leo Buscaglia didn't think so."

"Leo Buscaglia doesn't know me. He doesn't know how that moment excites me." She placed her hands upon his and guided them up her sides, giving him permission touch her further. His fingers glided effortlessly, and he couldn't believe how soft she felt. Almost too soft, like his fingers would sink right into her if he pressed too hard.

She moaned quietly and continued, "I can't wait to be amazed by you finding a literary quote or a historic or scientific event relevant to the conversation at hand. Your pal Leo also has no clue the warmth I feel every time I wake up and hear you getting ready in the bathroom."

His fingertips felt like they were on fire when they traced her collarbone inwards only to dip down between her breasts. Feeling the swell of her flesh was a delicious tease. Her beautiful words and her beautiful body were like a drug – he wanted more.

"Gil, I lay here listening to you brushing your teeth and trimming your beard, knowing your every move before you even make it. I love that. It means that you are with me." She leaned forward and traced the curves of his ears affectionately. "I like you being with me."

"I like it, too," he released on a breath.

Sitting up, Sara grasped his hands and sorrowfully removed them from her body. He didn't understand why suddenly there were tears in her eyes. "It's too bad, though," she whispered, kissing his hands before placing them on the bed.

"What is?" He was confused by the sudden shift in the mood.

"That this will never happen for us."

Grissom sat up abruptly when she left the bed and started to get dressed. It was then that he realized the sunlight that gleamed through the window seemed to have disappeared, leaving the room dark and cold. Watching Sara pull the shirt over her head, he also noticed that her skin didn't look quite as silky as it did a few moments ago. Still very beautiful, and all too real – just like the ache that found it's place in the center of his chest. Ironically, the same spot she nuzzled and cared for earlier.

"Where are you going?"

"Back."

He wanted to ask her to stay but he the words were trapped inside him. Why, during important times such as this, did he always clam up? Was this his fate?

Easing herself into her jacket, Sara returned to give him one last kiss. "You're also predicable in other areas, Griss. You still won't let me choose you."

Grissom opened his eyes and abruptly rolled over face first into his pillow. The plush down pillow restricted his breathing, but he didn't quite care at the moment.

It seemed so real. So real, but not.

She was here, in his bed, letting him love her. In his bed. He didn't have to roll back over to know that he was alone, and that knowledge made him ache that much more. It was so profound, this feeling of loss. So profound that he found himself running into his bathroom in search of his toilet.

Leaning over his toilet, somewhat pleased that he really didn't have to vomit, Grissom started laughing. He couldn't believe how this woman affected him. She in some way had touched every cell in his body, so much that the mere absence of her presence made him sick. The funny thing was that she wasn't here to begin with. He couldn't understand how he could miss her touch, a touch of a lover, when he only experienced it in his most treasured dreams.

His laughter died as he slowly eased himself into a sitting position, reclining against his tub. She gave him a little piece of hope the other day, and he let it slide. He wanted to believe that it was in her best interest, but in reality, he was scared. When she first got engaged he asked her, in a backhanded kind of way, not to marry Jason. Her decision was solid and admirable, and he knew that she loved her fiance. Half of his brain argued that she wasn't engaged anymore, but the other half countered with the fact that it wasn't her choice not to be.

He helped her because he wanted to be her friend and help fix something for once. And because he loved her.

He loved her. Grissom finally came to terms with the truth.

There was no getting over Sara.

There was no reason for him to be here at this hour. If she saw him, he knew that she wouldn't believe it was because of work. He really didn't know what he was doing here in the first place. The emptiness of his home was slightly suffocating, and before he knew it, he was walking through the doors of the lab in search of Sara.

This was crazy, he knew. She was probably out in the field working a case; this was the middle of shift after all.

"Griss?"

The rush of adrenaline that brought him here, dissipated quickly and he suddenly found himself without words. How did he always manage to do this?

"You're here ... early. Or late," she stated, obviously wondering why he was here.

"Early."

"Case got you busy?"

"Yes, I uh, just needed to, um ..." he trailed off, not able to conjure up an excuse. "Actually, no. I came here to see you."

Leaning in favor of momentum, he decided to contemplate her expression later, for he couldn't tell if it was shock or pleasure that currently graced her face. Either way, he took the light in her eyes as a good sign.

"Well, you've found me. Though I only have a minute or so, Nicky and I are about to head out."

"I think I only need a minute. For now." This was harder than he thought. He still didn't know exactly what he was doing; he just knew he had to do something. "Do you think you could fit in time to have dinner with me this week?"

"What?"

Not knowing if she actually didn't hear him, because he was sure he sounded strained, or if she needed clarification, he repeated, "Sara, would you please have dinner with me?"

"I, uh ... why?"

Grissom chewed on his lip, silently cursing himself for not having a practiced answer for this. He should have known that she wouldn't agree blindly.

"Because I want to give you a choice."

He could tell that she was nervous. After weeks of watching her hands and teaching her to sign, he easily recognized the jerky shakes of her hand as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"What about our schedule? Do we even have time for a dinner?"

"Sara, I'll make the time." His determined tone was in contrast to doubtful thoughts running through his mind. Sara was taking far longer than he had hoped she would to answer. When she broke eye contact with him and began to inspect her shoes, he thought he was done for.

"Okay," she replied quietly.

"Okay?"

"Yes. Okay."

And there they stood, in awkward silence. If he didn't have the 'asking her out' planned , he sure didn't have anything planned for her acceptance. This was incredibly ridiculous.

"Tomorrow night? I can pick you up at seven. Of course, assuming you're not planning on overtime."

"No, seven's good," she said, unsuccessfully containing her grin. "Oh, and we managed to do this right on time, here comes Nick." She nodded over his shoulder towards Nick who was quickly approaching. "Howdy partner," she greeted with her best twang.

"Sara, I told you, not another word," Nick admonished with a hint of a grin.

"Nick, why are you wearing a cowboy hat?" Grissom asked, a little confused as to why Nick looked as though he stepped out of a country western catalog.

"Why do you wear your straw hat?" Nick countered.

Grissom playfully cocked his brow at Sara's snicker before turning back to Nick. "Touche."

"I never thought I'd see the day when the sun would kick my ass like it has this week. I have new respect for the day shift."

Sara patted him on the shoulder with mock sympathy. "Aww, poor guy. I offered you my sunscreen. Cowboy up – we got ourselves a crime scene to tend to."

Even Grissom couldn't help but laugh when Nick tossed the cowboy hat at her, effectively shutting her up.

TBC...